What it Means to be Body REsponsible.

I love my body because it's strong!

The body acceptance movement that’s been going on recently has been loooong overdue! Girls and women have been feeling bad about their bodies for far too long! On the one hand I’m like “fuck yeah!” *insert fist pump* Because I think that we all NEED, deeply need to love ourselves for who we are and that includes our bodies!
 
We were all born with a certain shape that we just can’t help. Beyonce could never look like T-Swezzy even if she tried her damnedest and vice versa!
 
Loving your body for what it gives you and what it is capable of, that is what I’m ALL about!
 
BUUUUUT the part of the body acceptance movement that’s been taken too far is that it’s allowing certain people (not everyone, of course) to be lazy and refuse to improve what their bodies are capable of.
 
There are women out there who believe that just because they accept their body, they’re off the hook of taking proper care of it.
 
I love my body and I am grateful every day that I can walk and move and express myself physically. But I also look at every day as an opportunity to achieve more and to improve what my body can do and what it’s capable of.
 
Body acceptance is great… except when it’s not.
 
That’s why I came up with #bodyresponsibility: the idea that when we love our bodies, it means we want them to always be their best.
 
Body acceptance shouldn’t get us off the hook from nourishing and caring for our bodies.
 
What do I mean by nourish?
 
I mean eating foods that are dense in vitamins, minerals, protein and healthy fats. I also mean moving your body every day! Whether it’s walking, running, yoga, weight lifting, kayaking, surfing…there’s no limit to the types of movement and activities that are beneficial! So choose one every day, expand your physical capabilities and move in a way that satisfies you!
 
In fact, the basic concept is we absolutely need to exercise and eat for our health because we have a responsibility to this beautiful body! It’s our responsibility (and no one else’s) to nourish and cherish this body, cause it’s the only one we’ve got!
 
I want to live a long, healthy life AND I want to love myself and my body while doing it!
 
It’s not about “loving my body when…” it’s about loving that beautiful body right here, right now and knowing that you have the capabilities and the tools to constantly nourish that body.
 
It’s NOT perfectionism! There’s no true definition of “the perfect body”. The perfect body is the one you’re living in right now!

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The very first time I hated my body was the summer I was 10 years old. Someone in my family pointed out that I had a little belly growing. I had never paid attention to my body or thought that how I looked was bad, until that point.
It terrorized my life. I then spent endless hours reading magazines about how Brittany Spears got her great abs and doing crunches in my bedroom.
 
It’s obviously something that haunted me because I remember it 16 years later. I can remember the exact moment, in the kitchen, cleaning up from eating lunch on a hot summer afternoon.
 
I think we all have memories like that. I feel lucky that mine was a family member who had good intentions (something I certainly didn’t know at the time), but many people grow up being ridiculed about their weight and size at school, by friends and even at church!
 
We have felt the sting of someone telling us we’re fat or getting chubby and it hurts, it hurts deeply.
 
Which is why I am so stoked on the body love movement! Knowing that we are beautiful at whatever shape or weight is SOOOOO important. We can’t live our lives thinking about what others think of our bodies!
 
The moment I realized my body wasn’t here for anyone but me, my whole outlook changed. I started dressing how I wanted, showing some skin when I wanted and conversely being modest when I wanted.
Because my body’s not here for you, or that guy over there, it’s here, FOR ME!
And your body is there for you and you only!
 
I really want to embrace the body love movement because we deserve to love our bodies and ourselves.
I also want to think about being responsible for our bodies and our future. Our health and well-being is in our own hands. We are responsible for loving and nourishing these bodies we have!
 
Body love and acceptance doesn’t equal laziness. They equal responsibility.
 
This is a weighty topic. It’s something that so many women (and men) have a personal connection with.
 
I urge you to love your body, accept your body, but also be responsible for your body and its health.
We can’t stand idly by while our health declines, under the guise that we love and accept our bodies for what they are. We can love the now as well as the process and the progress.
 
We are not static beings, we are dynamic and ever changing. There are things we don’t have control over, such as our natural body shape, but we do have control over how we treat our bodies and how we care for our health.
 
#bodyresponsiblity because we have a choice in the matter!

If you're feeling me with this post, I would love to see some #bodyresponsibility posts on social media! Make to sure tag me too! @ronilynnfit :)

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​Thanks for reading!